10 Rock Stars That Went Country (And Nailed It)
4. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Most of Tom Petty's celebrated work hasn't been that far away from country music. You have to remember that this is a guy who wrote an entire record in tribute to the South and gave birth to the country-adjacent style of heartland rock. We're not here to talk about the Heartbreakers going country though. This is for their hand in bringing one of the greatest country stars of all time back from the edge.
When Tom was getting ready to put out Wildflowers, producer Rick Rubin was already underway with Johnny Cash on his American Recordings album, featuring standards and a handful of Cash originals. Once The Man in Black started to gain some traction again though, his next album Unchained is practically a collab album between Johnny and Tom Petty, with the Heartbreakers serving as his backing band for most of the runtime.
There are even a few left turns on the track listing as well, like when Flea shows up playing bass on some of the cuts and Tom being honored with Johnny's rendition of his songs like Southern Accents and I Won't Back Down. While it's by no means a mainline album in their catalog, Tom considers this whole record to be one of the greatest albums that the Heartbreakers ever did. Having a confidante in one of music's greatest outlaws, Tom Petty was more than just a fairweather fan of the genre. Until the day he died, Petty was a lifelong friend to the world of country music.